- Posted by Ad astra on May 1, 2009
When Kevin Rudd suggested recently that in order to fund increased pension payments and unemployment benefits in the upcoming budget, a contribution to that should be forthcoming from those who are closer to the upper income bracket, Joe Hockey protested loudly that Rudd was playing ‘the politics of envy’. As this term is not in everyday use in this country, I checked out its history. It’s been around for millennia, but contemporaneously the saying seems to be used by conservatives (Republicans) against liberals (Democrats) to use the US nomenclature, and the Coalition against Labor in this country. At its core it proposes that those less well off are envious of those better off, and by implication support the redistribution of wealth to give more to the poor by taking it from the rich. So the moment this is mooted the ‘politics of envy’ tag is attached to Labor, which is seen as promoting this envy. John Howard used this to great effect by suggesting that the Labor Party attempts to ingratiate itself with the working class and unemployed people by questioning the legitimacy of the wealth of the rich and the super rich. More...